Scrabble
Scrabble, the world's most popular crossword board game turned into a TV game show. Rules Crossword The Crossword game was played with two contestants looking at a computer-generated image of the world-famous Scrabble board. One letter would be given at the start in the center square with the star, then host Chuck would tell the players the number of letters in a word, and then he read a clue to that word. Then the contestant would (usually) take two numbered tiles from a rack between the contestants. The tiles would then be stuck into a slot to reveal two letters. The contestant would then choose which letter to place into the word first to see if it works. A correct letter was placed in its proper position in the word. When placed into the word, the contestant would then either take a guess or place the other letter. If the player still couldn't guess the word, then he or she had to then select two more tiles. Play continued until the player decided it was time to take a guess by hitting his/her button (there was no need to hit the button in earlier shows), or if all but one letter appeared. A correct guess won the word, but an incorrect guess passed control to the opponent. Guessing the word wasn't easy because of the fact that there were three extra letters in the rack of tiles that don't fit, called "Stoppers"; when a player selected a Stopper, control also passed to the opponent. Along the way, players could pick letters that fell into colored bonus squares, either blue or pink (no red unlike the board game). Early in the run & in the 90s version, whenever a bonus square was landed on, money was (potentially) added to a pot; for most of the 80s run, landing on a bonus square, and then identifying the correct word won bonus money, which was kept win or lose. If a player landed on a bonus square, and answered incorrectly, the opponent could steal the bonus money by identifying the correct word. The blues were worth $500, and the pinks were worth $1,000. Originally, a chyron graphic flashed the appropriate amount; later Chuck handed contestants the money in regular $100 bills, one at a time; still later, he handed out blue and pink colored bills called "Chuck Bucks", using the appropriate color for that square. Once a word was finished, another word was played, using one letter from the previous word, and the player who was behind or lost the last word in case of a tie got to start. After five words, play continued with disconnected words until a winner was crowned. The first player to guess three words won the game. Scrabblecrosswordcontestantarea.jpg|The Crossword Contestant Area, with its medley of salmon and periwinkle colors, and a "SCRABBLE" sign at the top. Scrabblecrosswordcontestantarea2.jpg|The Crossword Contestant Area (close-up). Scrabblecubedooropenseries1.jpg|The doors are opened, let's play Scrabble! Scrabbleboard.jpg|The world famous Scrabble board - Only difference is there are no double/triple score indicators and no letter distribution chart. Scrabble1stword.jpg|Building on the letter "A". Scwordplayed1.jpg|Does the "Y" fit in this word? Scwordplayed2.jpg|Does the "M" fit in this word? Scrabblestopper.jpg|Ouch! One of the three Stoppers. Scrabblesolvedword1.jpg|A puzzle solved. Congratulations. Scrabblesolvedword2.jpg|Another Word Solved! Bonus Squares Bluesquarehit.jpg|"E" in the blue square for $500. Pinksquarehit.jpg|"H" in the pink square for $1000. Chuckmoney.jpg|Chuck has some money just for you; you just have to guess the word correctly. Sc500.jpg|1-2-3-4-$500 in blue Chuck Bucks. Sc1000.jpg|1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-$1000 in pink Chuck Bucks. Speedword Whenever three stoppers were picked, (starting in 1985) when the game was at a 2-2 tie, or (in the second format) when time was running out, the game shifted into a Speedword round. After the third stopper, the contestant who control was passed to could either play Speedword or immediately take a guess at the risk of not being able to play Speedword if he/she was wrong. This was where letters in the word started appearing one letter at a time, and the numbered tiles were out of play. The first player to buzz-in with the correct word won the word, but buzzing in with a wrong word disqualified that player, allowing the opponent to either guess the word immediately or see more letters. Originally, the bonus squares had nothing to do with Speedword; that rule changed in 1986 when the bonus squares were always available. Speedword1.jpg|Speedword in progress. Speedword2.jpg|Contestant John buzzed in on a blue square. He can still get $500 if he guess correctly right then and there. The winner of the Crossword round won $500, plus a chance to play Scrabble Sprint. Scrabble Sprint The sprint round was played with two winners of the Crossword round, and consisted of three words (later four). On each word, host Woolery told the contestant how many letters were in the word, then read the clue. When Chuck said "GO", a clock started, and the contestant was shown two letters at a time. On each pair of letters, the player selected one to place into the word. Originally, a new letter would replace the chosen one; later once a letter was chosen, the other one would go back into a random shuffle. There were no Stoppers at all in this round: every letter was correct. When it was time to take a guess, that player hit a plunger to stop the clock and give his/her answer. A correct answer moved on to the next word, but an incorrect answer caused a ten-second penalty and stayed with that word. Play continued until all but one letter was placed; the contestant could allow five seconds to run safely without penalty by not guessing. Missing any words entirely had the contestant try to guess some make-up/alternate words. The round ended when the player guessed all the words right. The first contestant set the time, with the clock counting up; and the second player tried to beat the time, with the clock counting down. The player with the best time won the game & more money. The fastest time for a Scrabble sprint was 11.1 seconds, whereas the slowest was well over 100 seconds, with the board clock resetting to 00.0. Sprintround1.jpg|The Sprint Round in progress. Sprintround2.jpg|Mark Dauberman beat the clock and his opponent and wins. Scrabblesprint1.jpg|The Sprint Round with the modified graphics. This is much better than just having the boxes on the board. Scrabblesprint2.jpg|Sprint Round with the modified graphics (2-players). There's probably a reason why the guy on the left looks so dark. Scrabblesprint3.jpg|Bonus Sprint in progress. This contestant George Sealy got half the job done on both counts. 80s Version The show went through two formats in its six-year run. Format #1 Two new contestants played crossword for the right to face the Scrabble Sprint champion. In the first two weeks, the contestants played for money in the pot with $25 to start. Each correct letter was worth $25 more to the pot, while the colored squares added more money to the pot; blue squares were worth $50, pink squares were worth $100. The winner of Crossword won all the money in the pot, plus a chance to win triple value in Scrabble Sprint. Later, the pot was dropped in favor of the $500 prize for winning Crossword, with money for bonus squares added in later weeks. 1stshow1.jpg|Playing of the very first word. 1stshow2.jpg|$375 in the pot. These graphics were incredibly cheesy, by the way. 1stshow3.jpg|$475 in the pot. 1stshow4.jpg|Word Solved! 1stshow5.jpg|Another Word Solved! 1stshow6.jpg|Vanessa is ahead 2-0. $300 in the pot. 1stshow7.jpg|Jack wins the very first game with $575. Spelling For three months in 1985, contestants not only had to say the correct word, but also had to spell the correct word one letter at a time. This was also when contestants were required to buzz in to guess. Similar to the format used during the first two weeks, each correct letter added money to a pot: Regular squares added $50, blue squares added $100, and pink squares added $200 (later $500). In one episode, two contestants (Chris & Von) repeatedly failed to spell the word "mosquitos" correctly, despite knowing it was the correct answer. This rule was abandoned by the fall of 1985. ---- In Scrabble Sprint, the Crossword winner (now dubbed the challenger) had a choice of one of two envelopes containing three words, pink or blue; the Sprint champion got whatever was left. The challenger had to set to time while the champion tried to beat the time. If the Sprint champion got all three of his/her words before the clock hit zero, he/she remained the champion; if not, then the Crossword winner took over as Sprint champion. The winner of the Sprint won $1,500 (or triple value of the pot in earlier weeks). Later, both contestants played the same three words (later four). The champion was isolated offstage out-of-sight & out-of-hearing, while the challenger set the time the champion tried to beat when he/she returned. If the Sprint champion could win five times in a row, he/she won a bonus of an additional $20,000. Doing it twice (winning ten times) won another $20,000 bonus, for a potential grand total of $55,500 (more than that with the early pot format). Later it was changed to having the champ's winnings upped to $20,000 for the first five wins, and upped to $40,000 for ten. Winning ten times also retired the champ from the show, and the next Crossword round was only played for a position as temporary Sprint champion. After the first Crossword round upon a champion retiring undefeated, another Crossword round was played to determine who would have a chance to play Scrabble Sprint against the winner of the previous Crossword Round. $20,000 winner!.jpg|Jack Archer wins $20,000 in 1984, the first to do so. $55,500 winner!.jpg|Mark Dauberman wins $55,500 from 1984. Scrabble - Peter Catella wins $55,000!.jpg|Peter Catella wins $55,500 from 1984. $40,000 winner!.jpg|John Heaner wins $40,000. Scrabble - Don wins $20,000!.jpg Scrabble - Don wins $25,000!.jpg Scrabble - Don wins $40,000!.jpg Scrabble - Annie wins $20,000.jpg Scrabble - Annie wins $55,500 (1).jpg Scrabble - Annie wins $55,500 (2).jpg Format #2 In the second format which debuted in 1986 because of a tournament (The $100,000 All-American Scrabble Tournament) using this format, four contestants (one a returning champion) played the game. Before the show, home viewers who sent the Opening Home Viewer Word would receive a Scrabble T-Shirt. Each pair played Crossword for the right to play Scrabble Sprint. The champion played the first Crossword round every day, and his/her challenger went first; in the second Crossword (with two new challengers playing), a coin toss determined who went first. Plus each Crossword round was now timed, and when time was called, the rest of the round was played as Speedword. In Scrabble Sprint, the winner of the first Crossword established the time, that the winner of the second Crossword had to beat. The winner of the game won $1,000 and the right to play Bonus Sprint for an increasing jackpot. Bonus Sprint In the Bonus Sprint, the champ of the day tried to identify two words in under ten seconds. Doing so won the jackpot which started at $5,000 plus $1,000 for every day it wasn't won. As the ten-second penalty remained in effect, missing either word resulted in an automatic loss. Win or lose, the champ returned to play the next day. $5,000 Winner!.jpg|This teen contestant won $5,000. $6,000 Winner!.jpg|George Sealy won $6,000. $10,000 Winner!.jpg|Greg Craig won $10,000. Chuck Woolery $10,000 Winner!.jpg|Chuck Woolery himself won $10,000 for a home viewer! Champions stayed on the show until they won five days or were defeated. 90s Version The 1993 version was played the same way as the second format in the 80s version, except that the bonus squares no longer awarded instant cash bonuses to the contestants; they now added money to the bonus sprint jackpot, which started off at $1,000. The highest Sprint jackpot in this version was $20,500. Crossword Scrabblecubedooropenseries2.jpg Scrabblerevivalcrosswordcontestantarea.jpg Scrwordplayed1.jpg Scrwordplayed2.jpg Revivalspeedword.jpg Scrabblerevivalstopper.jpg Scrabblerevivalsolvedword1.jpg Scrabblerevivalsolvedword2.jpg Scrabblerevivalcrosswordcontestantarea2.jpg Scrabble Sprint Scrabblesprintrevival1.jpg|1993 Sprint Round in Progress (1-player) Scrabblesprintrevival2.jpg|1993 Sprint Round in Progress (2-players) Scrabblesprintrevival3.jpg|1993 Bonus Sprint Win! $1,500 Winner!.jpg|This contestant won a measly $1,500. $20,500 Winner!.jpg|But this contestant won an astounding $20,500. Pilots 1984 Pilot Two contestants, one a returning champion, played the crossword game just like in the second format of the series. What made this Crossword different was that the contestants played for money on each word; and it used the same pot format from the beginning of the series. The pot started at $25 on each word, and each correct letter was worth $25 more. Colored squares added extra money in addition to the $25; blue squares were worth $125 ($100 + $25) and pink squares were worth $225 ($200 + $25). Four words were played, and on the final word, the dollar values were doubled, meaning that correct letters were now worth $50 for normal white squares with that amount put into the pot to start, $250 ($200 + $50) for the blue squares and $450 ($400 + $50) for the pink squares. The contestant who guessed the word won the money in the pot for that word alone. The contestant with the most money after that fourth word won the game, and earned the right to play Scrabble Sprint as usual. Scrabblecubedooropenpilot.jpg|The doors in the pilot were opened with a computer effect. Scrabbleboardpilot.jpg|The Scrabble Board in the pilot. Scrabblepilot1stword1.jpg|Building on the letter "R". Scrabblepilot1stword2.jpg|This contestant has a T and a C to play. Which one is good and which one is a Stopper? Scrabblepilotstopper.jpg|Apparently not whatever letter this guy chose. Scrabblepilotstopper.png|And neither is this letter this gal chose. Scrabblepilotcontestantarea1.jpg|The stopper lights in the pilot just flashed rather than flash out. Scrabblepilotpot1.jpg|$250 in the pot. Scrabblepilotpot2.jpg|$400 in the pot. Scrabblepilotsolvedword1.jpg|Word solved! It's what no man wants to be. Scrabblepilotsolvedword2.jpg|Another word solved. This puzzle and clue ("He needs glasses") showed up occasionally in the opening segment as well. Scrabblepilotcontestantarea2.jpg|The contestants played for money rather than points in the pilot. In the pilot Scrabble Sprint, the winning contestant faced the contestant with the fastest Scrabble Sprint time of the week. Scrabble Sprint play was the same as always except that only the Crossword winner could play it, and there was a choice of five envelopes at the start of the week with one less choice each day. The player who guessed four words in the fastest time possible at the end of the Friday episode won $25,000 in cash. Scrabblespintpilot.jpg|Will Laura Chambers get the last word in time? NOTE: The circles indicate the letter spaces instead of diamonds. $25,000 winner!.jpg|YES, SHE DID, for $25,000! 1990 Pilot Taped 8/1/90 on what would become the 1993 set (and using a cue from that version as the main theme), the basic format of the original run remained intact, except that each game had a theme for all the words used. Steve Edwards (who had previously hosted the 1977 pilot Get Rich Quick! and the 1979 pilot Pandemonium and is better known for KTTV's Good Day LA and the long-forgotten national counterpart Good Day Live) hosted here, as Chuck Woolery's contract with Love Connection did not permit him to host another syndicated show. This was intended for daily syndication via Group W Productions (Westinghouse), but due to a variety of factors, including a crowded market and USA Network's reruns of the 1984-90 episodes, it was not picked up for a series order. vlcsnap-2014-05-24-22h58m29s124.png vlcsnap-2014-05-24-22h58m54s106.png Scrabble 1990 Pilot.jpg Vlcsnap-2014-05-24-22h59m33s250.png Scrabble 1990 Pilot (Crossword) 1.jpg Scrabble 1990 Pilot (Crossword) 2.jpg Scrabble 1990 Pilot (Crossword) 3.jpg Scrabble 1990 Pilot (Crossword) 4.jpg Vlcsnap-2014-05-24-23h00m43s174.png Scrabble 1990 Pilot (Bonus Sprint) 1.jpg Scrabble 1990 Pilot (Bonus Sprint) 2.jpg Scrabble 1990 Pilot (Bonus Sprint) 3.jpg Scrabble 1990 Pilot (Bonus Sprint) 4.jpg Scrabble 1990 Pilot (Bonus Sprint) 5.jpg vlcsnap-2014-05-24-22h59m08s2.png Scrabble 1990 Pilot Set 1.jpg Scrabble 1990 Pilot Set 2.jpg vlcsnap-2014-05-24-22h59m41s79.png Scrabble 1990 Pilot Set 3.jpg Vlcsnap-2014-05-24-23h00m13s135.png The Set Scrabblepilotset1.jpg|Pilot Set Scrabblepilotset2.jpg|Pilot Set with the superimposed logo Scrabble_1984_Set.png Scrabbleseriessetpink.jpg|The 80s series set (pink walls) (When the show started, there were blue and pink spotlights on the floor.) Scrabbleseriesset.jpg|The 80s series set (blue walls) (In 1986, an audience area was added.) L (1).jpg vlcsnap-2014-05-24-22h59m08s2.png Scrabble 1990 Pilot Set 1.jpg Scrabble 1990 Pilot Set 2.jpg vlcsnap-2014-05-24-22h59m41s79.png Scrabble 1990 Pilot Set 3.jpg Vlcsnap-2014-05-24-23h00m13s135.png Scrabbleseriesset1993.jpg|The 1993 series set Vlcsnap-2012-03-14-12h17m53s214.png|Here's proof that there was a Sprint Side. Screen-Shot-2014-08-14-at-10_11_13-AM.png sc0001bc1201.jpg The centerpiece of the 1984–1990 set was a giant rotating cube, which moved back and forth. Two sides were lighted Scrabble boards; one side was a rear projection screen used for the Crossword game, concealed by two sliding doors, with two screens below it for the letters. The fourth side was used for the Sprint rounds, a nine-screen display, again with two screens below it for the letters. For the 1990 pilot and 1993 revival, the new cube had all four sides the same as the original; it had a Crossword side, two Scrabble Board sides and a Sprint side, but unlike the 1990 pilot, the crew was never able to get the cube to rotate when the revival series began. So the cube became stationary, although it still moved back and forth, with the rear projection screen used for all rounds. The constant was the contestant area, which turned 90 degrees to reveal the Sprint area. In late 1986, a Scrabble sign was added at the top of the Crossword area; prior to this there was no sign except during special events including "Teen Weeks". After the regular sign was added, a new "Teen Week" sign was added for those weeks. For the Crossword game, Chuck stood at a small podium next to the cube, which faced the contestants. Chuck's podium was removed from the set when the sprint round was played. For the 1980s series, there was a giant pink Scrabble sign that hung over the set. The sign went up when the crossword game was played. Starting in mid-1986, spotlights would dance across it two letters at a time (similar to the 1980 Blockbusters sign). On the first finale in 1990, Chuck mentioned that the sign was held by thin wires; he even feared that he was going to lose his neck if the sign was going to come down on him, but it never did. The 1984 pilot didn't have that sign; instead, a superimposed blue logo appeared in its place during the opening & closing of the show. The 1990 pilot and 1993 revival also didn’t have that sign; instead, there was a new, smaller on-the-floor Scrabble sign. Merchandise A board game called TV Scrabble was released by Selchow & Righter in 1987; it was the only home version which was originally a board game itself, until Trivial Pursuit: Game Show by Parker Brothers in 1993. pic27546_md.jpg P1010030.JPG Rating Music Marc Ellis & Ray Ellis Inventor Based on the board game of the same name by Selchow and Righter (later Milton Bradley/Parker Brothers, now Hasbro) Studio NBC Studios, Burbank, CA Similar Shows *''The Scrabble Challenge'' *''Scrabble Showdown'' Additional Pages Scrabble/Quotes & Catchphrases Scrabble/Picture Gallery Scrabble/Video Gallery Links Joe Madigan's Scrabble Page Travis Eberle's Scrabble Page Xanfan's Scrabble Page Rules for Scrabble @ loogslair.net Rules for Scrabble @ The Game Show Temple 1990 Scrabble Pilot @ usgameshows.net Josh's Scrabble Rules Page Another Scrabble Rules Page A blog about the TV Scrabble board game from 1987 FLIP THE TABLE: Episode 52: TV Scrabble Flash game for the Scrabble Sprint Category:Board Game Conversion Category:Crosswords Category:Puzzle Category:Word Games Category:Family Game Category:NBC shows Category:Network shows Category:Network daytime shows Category:Daytime shows Category:Reg Grundy Productions Category:Fremantle Category:Long-Running Category:Revivals Category:30 Minute Game Shows Category:1984 premieres Category:1990 endings Category:1993 premieres Category:1993 endings